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Chicago Cubs - 1936

Gabby Hartnett
( click to enlarge )
After coming so close to winning the World Series the year before, 1936 was a let down. The Cubs ended up in second place 5 games behind the New York Giants. They had 87 victories and 67 losses. By the end of last year, the infield had solidified, and Woody was not starting. At first base, young Phil Cavarretta replaced Charlie Grimm who devoted most of his time to managing. Cavarretta had a good year with a .273 average with 125 hits and 9 home runs. At second was Billy Herman who had 211 hits to finished with a .334 batting average. Short stop Billy Jurges hit .280 and Stan Hack had 167 hits and 89 walks to achieve a .298 average. Woody only played in 64 games with 182 plate appearances. He had 45 hits and 40 base on balls. His batting average ended up a .247.

Fielders:
    Augie Galan, CF
    Billy Herman, 2B
    Chuck Klein, RF
    Gabby Hartnett, C
    Frank Demaree, LF
    Phil Cavarretta, 1B
    Stan Hack, 3B
    Billy Jurges, SS 		     Starting Pitchers:
    Bill Lee
    Larry French
    Tex Carleton
    Curt Davis
    Lon Warneke
Relievers:
    Roy Henshaw
    Charlie Root
    Clay Bryant

Since Woody's batting average dropped, and the infield was full of good young ball players, Woody was marked for the trading block although he was not aware of it. Burleigh Grimes had pitched for Chicago in 1932 and was to be the new manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937. At the end of the season, he told Woody that he would be playing for the Dodgers the next season but Woody said, "Never." Over the winter Woody got a letter from the Cubs' secretary that said, "You are now the property of the Brooklyn baseball club. Woody had ten enjoyable years with the Chicago Cubs organization and hated to leave it.

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